2013-14 FA targets?

[MNPacersfan]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/85896 ... -2013-2014

Just wondering who you all think possible free agent targets may be. I have a list below with players I think may be of interest...

PG
Shaun Livingston
Eric Maynor
Earl Watson
Jarrett Jack
Jerryd Bayless

Shooters
Kyle Korver
J.J. Redick
Dorell Wright

All purpose wings
Marco Belinelli
Corey Brewer
Tony Allen

Bigs
Jason Maxiell
Carl Landry
Marreese Speights
Elton Brand
Dante Cunningham
Jermaine O'Neal
DeJuan Blair
Paul Millsap (in the off-chance that West is not retained)

[pacers33granger]

With the cap holds we will have, we will be priced out of a lot of these free agents unfortunately.

Obviously it would be awesome to nab someone like Redick or Jack, but they will be getting above MLE money.

Of the realistic options, I would hope we go after Korver, Bayless, Brewer, and maybe Brand.

I'm not really enamored with the FA targets we could afford as far as bigs go. There could be a good wing out there that we could though.

I'd love to have Brewer in at the 2 for stretches with the starters if we could nab him. The length and defense on that group would be insane.

Korver would likely fill the best role for us, but even he might be out of our range.

We don't have much to offer in sign and trades to give any of these players higher salaries unless someone takes on Green, but then that's still only 3.5 mil, plus I wouldn't want to include a cheap young guy like Plumlee or our first this year.

[pacers33granger]

On a side note, if we don't retain Tyler, Zaza Pachulia could be in our price range and would fill the exact role of Tyler, with the ability to play the 5.

Some others I would add to your list that may be of interest:

Omri Casspi: if he had the right role, he could be a good player I think. He's just been on crap teams his entire career who have no use for him. Could be similar to Bellinelli in Chicago this year and will likely come cheap.

Will Bynum: likely won't be that expensive and would be a decent option at the 1 off the bench, though he's a scorer and not a passer so not ideal. Still, he can get into the paint, which we need.

Corey Maggette: not ideal in any sense, but would be a vet min likely. Not sure if he has anything left, but he used to get to the line at a crazy rate and could help with our scoring issues. Judging by his comments and professionalism not playing in Detroit, could be another steady vet.

Francisco Garcia: another solid vet; can hit threes, likely cheap.

Beno Udrih: was a solid point before the Bucks, wouldn't be expensive and could flourish given a chance to play some meaningful minutes.

Nick Young: as a last ditch effort for some offense off the bench, but on a 1 year deal so we don't end up with 2 Gerald Greens.

Wes Johnson: could become a good role player like Corey Brewer. Doesn't seem like the Suns have much interest in him and could come cheap.

Toney Douglas: seems to always be good for a few 25 point games a year at the very least.

Randy Foye: probably too expensive, but another shooter.

In looking over this list I noticed it's possible with Artest's talk of possibly opting out that all starters minus foster from the brawl team could be free agents. We could make some small moves and roll out a bench of Artest, Jackson, Tinsley, and Jermaine. Kidding, of course.

[Wizop]

Watson and Jack were solid when they were here before. I liked Maynor coming out of the draft.

West, Augustin, and Young are the three players whose contracts expire. maybe there are some more whose contracts are not guaranteed for next year. is Ben guaranteed?

West is a high priority resign. no hurry to decide on Young. no one picked him up when we let him go although he was injured. still I think you could get him to training camp with a small signing bonus and little or nothing guaranteed. Augustin started slow but eventually earned PT.

I see no need to sign a free agent at any position other than the point and even there I'd hope the draft gave me someone who could supplant Ben and I just might give Augustin another year to buy time for a rookie to learn. of course everything changes if West gets an offer we can't afford to match or if Granger's surgery is unsuccessful or if his doctor predicts another lost year.

[pacers33granger]

Will we have any money to resign Augustin with the cap holds of West and Hansbrough? I think I'd honestly rather use any exception we have on someone else. I don't mind Augustin, but I think we could do better and need a better passer and penetrator in his position.

[Miller4ever]

It would be great if Jarrett would like to come back. He shoots and defends better than Augustin. I have a lot of interest in Casspi. Our main concern is scoring off the bench and both of those guys could help out in that department.

[PR07]

I'd like to see us re-sign DWest and go from there.

[Scoot McGroot]

It would be great if Jarrett would like to come back. He shoots and defends better than Augustin. I have a lot of interest in Casspi. Our main concern is scoring off the bench and both of those guys could help out in that department.

I'll speak on the Cleveland guys.

Livingston has a lot of gas left in the tank, and is a solid backup PG, overall. He'd be a great, affordable option on this team.

Casspi is, well, an enigma. Some injuries, but can't seem to put it together. Questions in the CLE media about his work ethic and his desire. Some natural talent, but doesn't seem to care all that much. Buried himself on the bench behind Luke Walton.

Also, Luke Walton has turned himself into a pretty solid little 3rd string SF in Cleveland. Solid distributor and team leader if he can stay healthy. Obviously, nothing amazing, but like a coach on the floor. For minimum salary filler, he'd be a solid 15th guy if Young moves on.

[pacers33granger]

Everything I had read about Casspi seems to say that the Cavs really have no place for him and, combined with injuries, is why he's not in their rotation (kind of pointless for a rebuilding team to play young guys who aren't part of the future).

I know he has had some desire issues, but it seems to stem from the fact that he knows he isn't a part of the future of the Cavs. He played really well as a rookie when he felt like an actual piece of the team.

I'm not sure though, I know you'd be a better source on Cavs players Scoot. I think he could be a great pickup for some team as a role player. He seems destined to shine on a team like the Spurs next season and he would be cheap and likely on a 1 year deal to up his value.

Walton would actually be a great vet for this team and I think could really help Roy with his passing out of the post.

[Scoot McGroot]

Everything I had read about Casspi seems to say that the Cavs really have no place for him and, combined with injuries, is why he's not in their rotation (kind of pointless for a rebuilding team to play young guys who aren't part of the future).

I know he has had some desire issues, but it seems to stem from the fact that he knows he isn't a part of the future of the Cavs. He played really well as a rookie when he felt like an actual piece of the team.

I'm not sure though, I know you'd be a better source on Cavs players Scoot. I think he could be a great pickup for some team as a role player. He seems destined to shine on a team like the Spurs next season and he would be cheap and likely on a 1 year deal to up his value.

Walton would actually be a great vet for this team and I think could really help Roy with his passing out of the post.

When they traded for him, they had 0 SF's on the roster, and planned on starting him and playing him 35+ minutes a night. He WAS the future at SF for them. He was even trotted out as a HUGE publicity focus in Cleveland (Cleveland has wonderfully dynamic and huge Jewish population) and adding Casspi was viewed as a coup for the Cavs. Ultimately, they wanted him to succeed and put everything into him.


I do like Livingston as the primary backup at PG for this roster though. Does a little bit of everything and is very unselfish. Filled in admirably when Kyrie was out as well. Big problem is that he doesn't fit the offensive style of a Vogel PG, where he wants the PG to be able to nail the 3 with consistency, but he's a good shooter nonetheless.

[Jake0890]

Of the free agents, my favorite are Jack, Redick, Millsap, and Bellinelli.

Bellinelli has torn us up with his shooting when we play him. Would love to have a pure shooter like him coming off the bench.

[8305]

Where the Pacers see Danny Granger physically will drive much of the free agent strategy this summer. One silver lining to Danny shutting it down now and having the surgery is that by the time of free agency a better assessment of his health can be made. If Granger is back you have another wing who can spread the floor and someone who could absorb the backup minutes at the 4.

That leaves backup point guard. I don't see that many options for Augustin and wonder how he views the opportunity here moving forward. Upgrading will not be that easy.

[Moooose]

Pacers could go and find a cheaper back-up PG if we are not to re-sign DJ Augustin. Other than that, I don't really see the Pacers being that active in next year's free agency.

I am hoping CJ McCollum slips further down to us but this upcoming draft is pretty scarce on PG's.

Of the possible replacement to DJ, I would like Eric Maynor, i think he would fit well with our second unit. Bringing Jack back would be nice but he could be expensive.

[Scoot McGroot]

Shaun Livingston is my top cost-effective backup PG on the market this year. He's played well in Cleveland.

[pacers33granger]

Livingston does seem to be the best backup pg on the market this summer in our price range. Udrih would be a close second for me.

I'd love if the Pacers could swap Green and something small for Ridnour though.

[Jake0890]

Livingston does seem to be the best backup pg on the market this summer in our price range. Udrih would be a close second for me.

I'd love if the Pacers could swap Green and something small for Ridnour though.

I'm not sure why the Wolves would have any incentive to do anything like that though.

[pacers33granger]

That's the problem. We won't have space to absorb him to save them money, and Green is the only one in Ridnour's salary range. I wouldn't want to throw in a first or Plumlee for an expiring backup point past his prime.

I was mostly stating that is the best possible scenario that has a chance, albeit almost 0%, of happening. Green could benefit a lot from someone like Rubio though.

I honestly think our best bet is to either suck it up and resign DJ cheap, or wait the market out and see whose left later in the summer, though that is risky. The biggest issue is a lot of teams with cap space who have needs and no upper tier players. I think we'll be in for another overpay summer where players like Josh Smith get treated as if they were Lebron.

[Scoot McGroot]

That's the problem. We won't have space to absorb him to save them money, and Green is the only one in Ridnour's salary range. I wouldn't want to throw in a first or Plumlee for an expiring backup point past his prime.

I was mostly stating that is the best possible scenario that has a chance, albeit almost 0%, of happening. Green could benefit a lot from someone like Rubio though.

I honestly think our best bet is to either suck it up and resign DJ cheap, or wait the market out and see whose left later in the summer, though that is risky. The biggest issue is a lot of teams with cap space who have needs and no upper tier players. I think we'll be in for another overpay summer where players like Josh Smith get treated as if they were Lebron.

If a guys not worth he MLE or more, the market is going to be slow and stretched out for bargains. I'm ok waiting as we can't do too much worse on the market than DJ for this system.

[Wizop]

I want to see what the draft gives us before I lock in on free agents. Even though DJ didn't prove to be a huge upgrade over a healthy AJ Price, I'd feel a lot better about bringing him back if we had a more talented 3rd point guard learning on the bench or in Ft Wayne. sorry, Ben. lets see if guys like Russ Smith, Kabongo, Larkin, and Canaan are available to us before we decide what FA's we need.

[8305]

I want to see what the draft gives us before I lock in on free agents. Even though DJ didn't prove to be a huge upgrade over a healthy AJ Price, I'd feel a lot better about bringing him back if we had a more talented 3rd point guard learning on the bench or in Ft Wayne. sorry, Ben. lets see if guys like Russ Smith, Kabongo, Larkin, and Canaan are available to us before we decide what FA's we need.

I'd throw Nate Wholters into that group of 2nd tier point guard prospects.